Focus your diversity efforts on retention—not just hiring

While companies’ recruitment processes must give diversity a platform, hiring is not the only problem. There’s constant talk around diverse hiring and whether “token hiring” or quotas work or are morally right, but in reality, retention is an equally, if not more critical, challenge for many businesses. Without retention, the effort to make diverse hires is essentially useless. It’s a problem throughout society—from school to the C-suite—where toxic cultures and barriers to progression lead to a wide range of talent dropping out of the system. Business leaders must take it upon themselves to ingrain diversity in high-level company strategies, take note of best practices, and facilitate the necessary discussions. It’s not an exhaustive list to solve the diversity debate, but it’s a start.  

There’s a business case for diversity even when ignoring the societal one, pioneered by the UK Royal Society:  

Diversity can foster creativity and innovation from a diverse range of views and experiences, fuel dynamic and varied communication and leadership of teams, and improve both the recruitment and retention of talent. 

Perhaps even more compelling is McKinsey’s research, which indicates that better financial performance goes hand in hand with diversity. 

Barriers to progression often force both diversity and talent out of the organization 

Some of the most common, and most damaging, barriers to progression within organizations include 

• A lack of role models or mentors for members of underrepresented groups to aspire to. Role models are critical for getting young children to believe that a career is both right and attainable—but they’re also vital to those already on the career ladder to see that there is no “glass ceiling” in an organization or ecosystem. 
• An absence of flexible working and part-time roles especially targets women and minority ethnic groups but also impacts productivity—a widely proven and accepted benefit of non-traditional working hours.  
• Unclear promotion processes leave room for biases and discrimination, even if it’s unconscious, and eventual glass ceilings for some.  
• Training and development opportunities being denied based on conscious and unconscious bias. Take, for example, a firm where the ability to attract clients is based on how many certifications it has, and the opportunities for certification are allocated based on managers’ assumptions, stereotyping, and favoritism. 
• Long-hours cultures lead to trouble balancing parenthood and other life commitments.  

• Old-boys’ networks formed both within and outside of work favor certain employees and groups, especially those from traditionally “high class” universities. 
• Inadequate provisions for physical difficulties or not allowing adjustments when required. 
• Cultures not welcoming to underrepresented groups—the “beer fridge” debate is a clear example, where office drinking cultures expect longer working hours and exclude an increasing number of non-drinkers. 
• Stereotypical characteristics and aggressive or competitive language attached to job descriptions and seen in working environments dissuade many from applying, staying, or progressing. 

Retention policies, if implemented incorrectly, can have the opposite effect: One example is the contrast between good and bad flexibility—getting the balance wrong can cost you talent and create a toxic culture 

Trust, for one, is integral to flexibility. You can’t give people the illusion of flexibility to manage their hours and place of work, only to create a “walk of shame” culture for those leaving the office early. How many have to put up with the “Oh, half day?” comments when leaving at 3pm despite being in the office since 7am?  

Examples like Microsoft’s recent experiment with a four-day week in Japan will not work for every employee and every business. However, cultures of presenteeism linger despite technological advances that mean many roles have tasks that can be worked on anytime, anywhere. What is often missing is an ability to design jobs effectively, with clear, transparent, and targeted outcomes and expectations, so that presence and time spent in an office diminish in relevance.  

Furthermore, flexibility must be reasonable. It runs the risk of becoming toxic when a reduced requirement for presence during core hours leads employees under pressure to always be “on” or available, all day, every day—at night-time and on holiday, too. 

Effective leadership and the role of those more privileged are critical to changing cultures and championing diversity 

Leaders must ensure that diversity initiatives encompass all forms of diversity, and if they can’t, recognize that fact and have the debate. Acknowledging shortcomings and a need to change is not a weakness; rather, it provides leaders with an opportunity to build trust and a healthy level of transparency. Too many initiatives are only focused on gender in business, with less surrounding sexual orientation, ethnicity, disabilities, characteristics, age, and so many more… With so many different identities to consider, it is nearly impossible for one person to speak for everyone—but a leader’s role must be, in part, opening room for this conversation.  

The Bottom Line: It doesn’t matter how many diverse hires you have if none are promoted and everyone leaves after a year.  

It has been presumed for too long that time will correct the imbalances that persist, but we see the same patterns repeated. Where diversity does exist in an organization, it too often pools in the lower echelons, while progression is constrained. The emphasis in the organizational pipeline should be shifted to retention and progression: Once they’re in, do a better job of keeping them. 

From across the conversations we’ve had on the diversity challenge and our own experiences in business, some of the actions leaders can take right now include: 

• Embed diversity in enterprise–level strategy through flexible working, transparent career pathways, and other discussed examples. 

• Monitor best practice and act on the available data surrounding career progression and constraints and the root-causes of losing talent.  
• Work with the latest sources of research—universities, think tanks, policymakers, and more—to pioneer evidence-informed initiatives. 
• Then quickly embrace policies that are no-brainers for retention, such as adjusting for disabilities and difficulties, promoting work-life balance, allocating training and development without bias, encouraging return from parental leave, and accelerating career paths (through development and networking opportunities, for example). 
• Improve the visibility of opportunities for those at non-traditional universities or considering mid-career changes.  
• Coordinate and discuss diversity initiatives throughout business ecosystems to foster open communication and awareness. 

• Consider how best to develop role models for all within the business and wider ecosystem.